Closure Ain't Just A Forest In Arizona

Excuse me while I take one last piss on this camp fire to put it out for good. (Steph, I still hope we can meet for drinks at some point. Your watering hole or mine.)

Dear Andrew,

I received a note of apology from Stephanie Klein. She posted a version of it on her web site in the comments to the June 4, 2004 blog entry which has been edited to exclude my words. I have replied to her and would have posted my reply next to her comment but found that the [comments have] been turned off on that entry. I thought you would be interested in the conclusion of the whole affair.

Sincerely,
Gerald Fierst

Yes, I would and here is his reply:

Dear Stephanie,

Thank you for your note of apology.

We all absorb ideas from so many folks and, energized, transform them into our own expression. It's always been that way with creativity, and it's why so many of us want to be New Yorkers - To bounce off of each other's lives, and work, and inspirations. I am flattered that you were studying my web page and using it, and I probably would have given you permission to use the ideas if you had asked, happy to be referenced. As is, I was a bit stunned that the paragraph had been lifted verbatim, as if no one would ever notice.

The injury of plagiarism isn't that something irreplaceable has been stolen, or that my few sentences were so special, but that you didn't recognize the debt you owe to another creative person. You are a very lucky woman. Your talent and work met time and place to win you some recognition and fortune, but most artists in our country strive all their lives to be recognized, let alone make some money from their work.

I think apologizing has become a bit too common a formula for politicians and journalists and celebrities. 'Fessing up and being more careful in the future is fine, but the appreciation of the work of others (even those who satirize and trivialize you - which in a way you did to me) is more important.

Sincerely,
Gerald Fierst